[technofinch]

i say "godspeed, soldier" way too much for someone who puts their faith in neither god nor the military

[snowsmoked]

I do think that Shane gets a Russian language tutor. He sees that Ilya is always having to think, speak, and translate in his second language. And he knows that Ilya is fluent by this point, but if he's serious about forever with Ilya (which he is) he wants Ilya to be able to communicate with his boyfriend in his native language. He also saw how much his grandparents struggled with learning English as adults and how much more expressive and talkative they were when they spoke Japanese at home together.

So he gets a tutor. He meticulously researches her (she's from Moscow, so he'll learn from someone with Ilya's same accent). She's signed to more NDAs than he can count. She has 10 years of experience, she's certified to teach English and Russian, and she has 4.8 stars on MyTutor.

Shane pays her a frankly concerning amount of money to make house calls. Twice weekly, unless he's on the road, she arrives at his apartment to teach him foundational Russian. She gives him workbooks, Russia cartoon recommendation, podcasts for beginners, etc. He tells her he's learning because his boyfriend is Russian and she outlines a course that focuses on domestic language first (as opposed to travel or business). She even teaches him what she calls a 'culture course' with lessons on Russian music, food, and various traditions.

She's only a few years older than Shane and he actually finds himself looking forward to her visits. At this point, she's the only person other than his parents that knows he has a boyfriend.

About 4 months in, Shane finally feels comfortable enough to ask about what he'd been very excited about learning.

"You want me to teach you how to talk dirty to your boyfriend?" Ekaterina raised an eyebrow.

"Um," Shane blushed. Was this a little too far? Was this inappropriate to ask of a tutor? "Yes? If - If that's okay, I mean."

A slow smirk spread over her face. "This will be fun. Fun for me, now. Fun for you, later."

"I made a list," Shane admitted. He wasn't going to back out now, he put a lot of thought into his list. He turned to it in his Russian notebook and handed it to her.

She scanned over it indifferently. "You will use all this in one night?"

"Yeah, probably. Is it too much?"

"It is good you have a Russian man," Ekaterina said. "They have good stamina. Mostly, anyway."

And while it was a little embarrassing for Ekaterina to correct his pronunciation of please let me suck your cock, it helped that she seemed just as comfortable with that as there is tea on the stove.

Though, maybe he shouldn't have learned those phrases at the same time, because Ilya will never, for as long as they live, allow him to forget asking, while down on his knees and with excellent pronunciation, please let me suck your tea.

[gaynehollander]

If there's one thing the Centaurs were not prepared for when Hollander joined their team, it's just how much of an asshole he is. Like, pretty early on Shane's first season with the Cens, Dillon misses a pass from him in practice and Shane immediately goes "did you leave your contacts at home?" in a perfectly bland, inoffensive tone and Dillon, genuinely confused, says, "I don't wear glasses..." and Shane immediately retorts with "well, you clearly need them so I'd schedule an eye test" and then just skates away with the puck while the rest of the Centaurs are left gaping behind him except for Ilya who is folded over with laughter

[scinnlaece]

He would give up so much more, if he needed to. [...] Ilya reached for his hand and tangled their fingers together. I love you so much. Don't leave me.

Rachel Reid | Heated Rivalry; Chapter Twenty-Seven

[lavenderprose]

I hope Connors got climbed like a fucking tree that night in the club God look at his cute fucking face. I think as a little treat for him I'm going to institute a headcanon wherein Connors pulls just INCONCIEVABLE amounts of pussy just by being so fucking earnest and having that funky little mustache. He walks into the locker room and Ilya is like "Connie! Did you take that girl home last night?" And Connors is like, "Oh dude you know I did." And Ilya daps him up and calls him a king and someone is like "Okay I understand Rozanov, he's like objectively hot and he's rich, but Connors I just don't get," and Ilya turns to that guy and says, "Of course you fucking wouldn't, when was the last time you ate pussy," and the other guys just all groan because here we go again...

There's a separate groupchat that someone accidentally added Cliff to and in that group chat someone is like "Hey does anyone else think it's super weird that Cap and Connors talk about eating pussy like all the time. Like they've gotta be capping. Or compensating for something. Like, nobody actually likes eating pussy like that."

"Hate to break it to you," Cliff tells them the next time they're all hanging out at Ilya's place, "But the boys put their heads together and now they think you're both gay for liking pussy too much."

Ilya rolls off the couch laughing. Connors says, "Fellas, if it's gay to eat pussy they're gonna have to put a new color on the rainbow just for me" and then won't stop saying it for the next week.

Ilya laughs every time, mostly because at least half the times he's mentioned going down on someone in the last two years he's actually been talking about Shane Hollander's ass.

[sailermoon]

I WISH IT HAD ALL BEEN DIFFERENT!!!!!

[sailermoon]

but then who would i be

[pompkinsoups]

I drew this when pokopia first came out. I think they feel how my cat might feel if I left ;-;

[effieotto]

“Haymitch calling Maysilee his sister was so forced” guys, that boy had one look at Proserpina and Vitus and said they were his friends. he couldn’t look at a small kid and and not say was his allies. he saw a damn rabbit MUTT and called it his partner…i think he calling his recently made best friend his sis, when she remind him of the baby sisters he lost and who’s constantly talking about her twin and saying she would be Ampert’s sister if he wanted, was actually pretty valid. The boy was sentimental, and dramatic, and was absolutely losing it. Leave him alone to label whoever he want with whatever he want, please :(

[nefarious-vex]

can’t believe Suzanne Collins had Wyatt Callow, who knew the odds of all the tributes’ deaths better than his own name, die protecting Lou Lou, who he statistically knew wouldn’t make it anyway. had Louella McCoy, who was immediately ready to try and stick it to the capital any way she could in the games, die before she even reached the arena. had Maysilee Donner, who constantly talked back, who wanted to die with her head up, who didn’t want to be treated like an animal by the capital, die mangled on the ground after having her vocal chords ripped out by a capital-manufactured bird. had Haymitch Abernathy, who from the moment he learned of Beetee’s plan, knew he was ready and willing to give up his life so that his friends and family could live, be forced to live without them, knowing all he did in the arena was for nothing. that everyone died anyway. sick and twisted.

[effieotto]

Maysilee Dooner having to witness the mockingjay pin she hates with every fiber of her soul, being turned into the symbol of the revolution because her lovely niece gave it to Katniss before her Games.

[crunchiergranola]

Asterid March, who falls in love with a Seam boy at the age of 16.

Asterid March, who watches her best friend die in Haymitch's arms.

Asterid Everdeen, who moves down to the Seam because who needs money when they have love? Asterid Everdeen, who loses both of her parents at an unknown point. Asterid Everdeen, whose first baby is the spitting image of Burdock.

Asterid Everdeen, who can't believe her husband is stupid enough to teach their daughters that Hanging Tree song, and they were making nooses, Burdock! And more miners die on her table, and more children starve across the Seam.

Asterid Everdeen, who buries her husband, because anything good in the world is taken by the Capitol. Asterid Everdeen, who is aware that her children are starving like every other Seam child, and it's her fault. Because if she hadn't married Burdock, if she hadn't done the foolish thing and risked it all for love, then they'd be safe. And tesserae's an option, but then they'll end up like Maysilee. The mines always need workers, but then they'll end up like Burdock. The Head Peacekeeper stops the whippings, but has a habit of taking girls into his bed.

Asterid Everdeen, who watches her older daughter take the place of her younger one. Who watches her older daughter risk it all for love. Who remembers what happened to the Abernathys. Who pivots when the media asks who Gale is. Who sends food into the Seam wherever she can. Asterid Everdeen, who can feel the noose getting tighter.

Asterid Everdeen, who sees more of herself in Alma Coin than she'd care to admit, who watches another man from the Capitol turn her daughter into a symbol, who screams when Prim sneaks off to the Capitol and then follows her.

Asterid Everdeen, who cannot leave Katniss's side in the hospital and then cannot be near her because if Asterid stops moving, she will fall into the abyss again.

Asterid Everdeen, who cannot go home because there is no home to return to. Asterid Everdeen, who starts the first district hospital. Asterid Everdeen, who cries with Katniss when her older daughter is ready to talk.

Asterid Everdeen, who heard Maysilee whisper, "Nothing you can take from me was ever worth keeping," and then the Capitol took everything she had.

[fromevertonow]

This YouTube comment has been on my mind since I finished SOTR so this is what I came up with:

Lucy Gray was the mockingbird, living on the outskirts of district 12 and was there at the wrong time when they were forced to stay there after the Dark Days. They were subjected to the Capitol’s politics despite not being a part of Panem, technically speaking. Lucy Gray became part of the Games and, likewise, the mockingbird became affiliated with the Capitol through the jabberjay’s release into the woods, but it still continued to sing its own song.

Haymitch was the jabberjay, a Capitol tool that did what it had to in order to survive. The Capitol thought they could control them, but they retaliated in the form of rebellion. Haymitch refused to be a piece in their game and tried to end it, and the jabberjay, in the eyes of the Capitol, created a freak of nature that showed the Capitol’s lack of complete control.

Katniss was the mockingjay, a slap in the face of the Capitol, something that was never meant to exist. Together, the song of the mockingbird that lived on for generations and the stubbornness of the jabberjay that refused to die, the mockingjay had the best of both worlds. It was a symbol of rebellion and unity.

[redisnotonfire]

shout out to suzanne collins for, in the middle of Everything Else she was doing in sotr, dropping a paragraph that’s just “btw fuck ai”

[everdeensmellark]

snow really convinced himself lucy gray didn't love him (after she wrote a whole song about him and tried to run away with him) and then forty years later told sixteen year old haymitch abernathy that dying in the arena would be dodging a bullet compared to loving a covey girl. top 10 situationships gone horribly wrong

[batcavescolony]

the difference between Haymitch and Katniss's narration is so funny. Haymitch would give us everyone's social security number if he knew them, while Katniss wouldn't even tell us her mom's name.

[crazyness-overpowers]

the way haymitch must have seen it as all his ghosts coming back to haunt him at once when katniss walked onto the train with the face of burdock and asterid, the pin of maysilee, the voice of lenore dove, and a background so devastatingly similar to his own. of course sweetheart slipped out. and of course he did everything he could to keep her alive

[ilikebooksanstuff]

i love how suzanne just gives us a little treat by mentioning the katniss plant every book. like here u go. ik u miss our girl. she's fine. enjoy lowercase katniss

[we-will-all-fade-away]

'enjoy lowercase katniss' is hilarious